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Employment Gains in Residential Construction Sector Offset Nonresidential Job Losses
WASHINGTON, D.C. – September 7, 2012 – (RealEstateRama) — Construction employers added 1,000 jobs in August while the industry's unemployment rate fell to 11.3 percent, according to an analysis of new federal data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America. The unemployment declines come as the construction industry continues to shrink, association officials noted, adding that over 214,000 workers have left the industry since August 2011.
"While we all breathe a sigh of relief any time the sector adds jobs, these numbers are hardly cause for celebration," said Stephen E. Sandherr, the association's chief executive officer. "If it wasn't for the fact that the housing sector is finally on the mend, construction employment would be heading in the wrong direction."
Despite the monthly gains, the sector's overall employment levels are essentially unchanged from a year earlier, Sandherr noted. He said that industry employment in August was only 17,000, or 0.3 percent, higher than one year earlier. There are now 5.5 million construction workers employed across the country compared to the peak levels of 7.7 million the industry hit back in 2006, Sandherr added.
The construction employment gains for the past month and past year have largely come from the residential sector. The residential construction sector added 7,100 jobs between July and August and 23,900 jobs since August 2011. Residential building contractors actually lost 1,000 jobs in August, but have gained 5,200 for the year. Meanwhile, residential specialty trade contractors added 8,200 jobs in August and 18,700 for the year.
Nonresidential construction employment declined by 6,000 in August and is down by 6,400 for the year, Sandherr noted. He said that the heavy and civil engineering construction sector, buoyed by the passage earlier this year of a new federal transportation bill, added 2,800 jobs between July and August and 17,400 since August 2011. However, nonresidential specialty trade contractors lost 6,400 jobs for the month and 18,900 for the year. And nonresidential building contractors lost 2,400 jobs in August and 4,900 since August 2011.
The 11.3 percent unemployment rate for construction workers was below the rate in August 2011 of 13.5 percent. Sandherr cautioned, however, that the declines in the construction unemployment rate are happening because many frustrated construction workers are leaving the sector. He noted, for example that since August 2011, 214,000 contractors left the workforce while over 700,000 have left the industry since 2009.
Sandherr said construction employment remained stagnant as private sector demand remained relatively weak and overall public sector investments in construction and infrastructure continued to decline. He added that those declining infrastructure investments weren't just hurting construction employment, but were also responsible in part for the fourth annual decline in America's global competitiveness ranking.
"If we aren't careful, we are going to neglect ourselves right into global mediocrity," Sandherr said. "Instead of finger pointing and foot dragging, we need to start setting long-term tax rates, fixing critical infrastructure revenue challenges and passing measures to improve our aging drinking and waste water systems."


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Cosmetic, Plastic and Reconstructive surgery;Dermatology/Skin;
Hair Fall / Loss leading to baldness (Medical term - Alopecia) can be triggered due to a host of reasons. The normal cycle of hair growth lasts for 2 to 3 years. Each hair grows approximately 1 centimetre / month during this phase. About 90 percent of the hair on one`s scalp is growing at any given time and the rest of the hair are in resting phase. After 3 to 4 months, the resting hair falls out and new hair starts to grow.
It is normal to shed some hair (upto 100) each day. However, some people may experience excessive (more than normal) hair loss. Hair loss of this type can affect men, women and children.
The most common form of baldness is called male-pattern baldness. It is also called androgenetic alopecia. Men who have this type of hair loss usually have a family history of baldness. In male-pattern baldness, hair loss typically results in a receding hair line and baldness on the top of the head. Women may develop female-pattern baldness. In this form of hair loss, the hair can become thin over the entire scalp.
Abnormal amount of hair loss, specially at a younger age.
A host of reasons can lead to excessive hair loss such as:
- Medical history.- Physical examination to look for other causes of hair loss.- Blood tests or a biopsy of scalp may be needed.
Depends on the underlying cause.
- Medicine (eg. Minoxidil) or a gel- Wig, hair weave- Hair transplant
You may also like to learn about:
DandruffAlopecia areataFungal infections-skinHypothyroidismTyphoid feverPsoriasis

subset: commoncrawl


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The Broward Sheriff's Office said that the shooter who left 14 people injured at a Florida high school is now in custody
Gunfire appeared to break out at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., just before noon.
"It's catastrophic. There really are no words," said Sheriff Scott Israel.
Earlier, the sheriff had said that police were responding to the scene and that there were "reports of victims."
The shooter is "not a current student," the sheriff tweeted.
The Broward School district said that "students and staff heard what sounded like gunfire" just before classes were dismissed.
When reports of a shooter first came in, SWAT team members swarmed in and locked down the building.
Ambulances converged on the scene as emergency workers appeared to be treating possibly wounded people on the sidewalks.
Television footage showed police in olive fatigues, with weapons drawn, entering the school, then dozens of children frantically running and walking quickly out.
Some students exited the building in single-file rows with hands raised overhead to show they carried no weapons. Others held onto other students as they made their way out past helmeted police in camouflage with weapons drawn.
Today, close to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School's dismissal, students and staff heard what sounded like gunfire. The school immediately went on lockdown but is now dismissing students. We are receiving reports of possible multiple injuries. Law enforcement is on site.
— Broward Schools (@browardschools) February 14, 2018
"We are receiving reports of possible multiple injuries. Law enforcement is on site," the district tweeted.
Students have tweeted images from the scene, showing a lockdown that has them hiding under desks.
"My school is being shot up and I am locked inside. I'm f***g scared right now," tweeted one.
I am in a school shooting right now...
— Aj22000 (@TheCaptainAidan) February 14, 2018
Hello, Twitter. I am closing my DM's but I appreciate everyone contacting me. I am still locked in the school, but remember I'm only a freshman. Please don't just send your love to me, but pray for the victims' families too. Love you all.
— Aj22000 (@TheCaptainAidan) February 14, 2018
Florida Governor Rick Scott and Sen. Marco Rubio both tweeted that they had been briefed on the situation, with Scott noting that he had spoken to President Donald Trump.
We are monitoring the horrible unfolding situation in Broward County, Florida with reports of a shooting at a local high school. #Sayfie
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 14, 2018
My prayers and condolences to the families of the victims of the terrible Florida shooting. No child, teacher or anyone else should ever feel unsafe in an American school.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 14, 2018
NYPD Chief of Counterterrorism James Water said the the unit is monitoring the situation.
The nearby Coral Springs Police Department asked parents to not call 911 to report the incident and if contacting their children inside the school, to ask them to remain calm.
#BSO is working a developing incident regarding a report of active shooter located at 5901 Pine Island Rd, Parkland. Here's what we know so far: deputies are responding to reports of a shooting at Stoneman Douglas High. There are reports of victims. PIO will be on scene 3:15pm.
— Broward Sheriff (@browardsheriff) February 14, 2018
More to come.
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According to Finance Director Jody Lundquist, the 1,800 shutoff notices will be making their way to Flint residents sometime this week. "We are applying shutoff notices in a fair and systematic way in which those billed on the first cycle will be issued notices first. We do understand that this situation has been out of the ordinary and could be confusing to some of our customers and therefore want to help them as best we can," Lundquist said.
MLive reports the notices pertain to debts from bills "that have been issued since the city rolled back water and sewer rates to comply with an injunction issued by Genesee Circuit Court Judge Archie Hayman."
Judge Hayman's injunction, city officials claim, is the main reason so many accounts have become overdue as it barred shutoffs where rates were "improperly adopted." Hayman's injunction stems from a class action lawsuit filed by Flint residents over the longstanding water issues facing the city, complimentary of Rick Snyder and his emergency manager Darnell Earley.
Earley, in the meantime, has attempted to pawn off his dismal decision to pull drinking water from the Flint River on local city officials, despite the city being under emergency management.
According to the city of Flint, the first round of overdue notices being sent represent a growing trend in the city, and for good reason. Some 60 percent of Flint's water customers are currently overdue on their bills. The city is hoping that threatening residents already living in a dire situation due to government foul-up will be just the trick to reduce the growing number of outstanding bills residents are withholding.
Of course, these bills are being withheld due to citizens being provided with water that caused irreversible lead poisoning. Estimates for the repair of the water infrastructure could cost the state of Michigan as much as $1.5 billion.
The first bills the city of Flint is trying to collect on come from September, when bills were issued with adjusted rates in the wake of Hayman's ruling. Any "improperly adopted" unpaid bills stemming from before Hayman's ruling have been "frozen." Payments made by Flint water customers on the improperly adopted bills preceding Hayman's ruling are being applied to the new, properly adjusted bills, according to a statement issued by the city.
The properly adjusted bills first issued in September became overdue as of Oct. 11. Any overdue bills more than 30 days late result in shutoffs as per city policy. As of right now, residents have 10 days to pay their "properly adjusted" bills for poisoned, lead-filled water or else they will be disconnected.
Unfortunately for the city, residents, and the entire state of Michigan, this is a problem one will not simply be able to boil away anytime soon.
Link to original article from US Uncut


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House of Commons
Session 2013-14
Publications on the internet
The Register of Members' Financial Interests: Part 1
As at 25th November 2013
CUNNINGHAM, Sir Tony (Workington)
2. Remunerated employment, office, profession etc
Payments from Ipsos MORI, 79-81 Borough Road, London SE1 1FY for opinion survey
Received £150 for opinion survey in October 2012. Payment donated to charity. Hours : 1.5 hrs. (Registered 12 September 2013)
Received £200 for opinion survey in September 2013. Fee donated to local heritage group. Hours: 2.5 hrs. (Registered 10 September 2013)
Payment of £70 received from YouGov plc, 50 Featherstone Street, London EC1V 8RT for opinion survey, May 2012. Payment donated to charity. Hours : 30 mins. (Registered 12 September 2013)
Payments received from ComRes, Four Millbank, London SW1P 3JA for opinion surveys. All payments donated to charity:
May 2012, received £75. Hours: 30 mins. (Registered 12 September 2013)
December 2012, received £75. Hours: 30 mins (Registered 12 September 2013)
January 2013, received £75. Hours: 30 mins (Registered 12 September 2013)
March 2013, received £75. Hours: 30 mins. (Registered 12 September 2013)
6. Overseas visits
Name of donor: RESULTS UK
Address of donor: Second Floor, 31-33 Bondway, London SW8 1SJ
Amount of donation (or estimate of the probable value): flights and accommodation; total £1,583
Destination of visit: Ethiopia
Date of visit: 16-21 February 2013
Purpose of visit: RESULTS UK delegation to study the impact of tuberculosis and child health
(Registered 6 August 2013)
Name of donor: UK Consortium on AIDS and International Development
Address of donor: Grayston Centre, 28 Charles Square, London N1 6HT
Amount of donation (or estimate of the probable value): flights, hotel and travel allowance; total £662.09
Destination of visit: Geneva
Date of visit: 6-7 March 2013
Purpose of visit: to discuss the work of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria
(Registered 6 August 2013)


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Article Text
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The Notebook in the January 2000 issue of Evidence-Based Nursing described how the outcomes of clinical trials are measured and summarised before analysis. We now discuss how we can tell, by using and interpreting statistical tests, if treatments have a real effect on health or if the apparent effects of treatments under trial are a result of chance.
When critically reading a report of a clinical trial, one of the things we are interested in is whether the results of the study provide an accurate estimate of the true treatment effect in the type of patients included in the study.
Sampling error
Even if a study has been carried out in a methodologically sound (unbiased) way, a study result such as "5% more wounds healed in the treatment compared with the control group" does not necessarily mean that this is a true treatment effect. This finding could be a chance occurrence even when there is no true effect. To illustrate this, imagine that you are playing a game with dice. We know that, on average, each of the 6 numbers should come up an equal number of times in unbiased dice. However, when your friend throws 2 or even 3 sixes in a row, you are unlikely (depending on the friend) to infer that the dice are loaded (biased) or that he or she is cheating. Instead, you would probably conclude that this was just luck. This example shows us that even if there is no true effect (ie, the dice are not loaded), we can observe events that look like there is an effect, simply because of chance (sampling error). This is particularly the case when there are small numbers of observations. For example, if the number six came up in 2 out of 4 throws (ie, 50% of the time), we would assume it was because of chance. However, if it occurred in 100 out of 200 throws, then we would tend to reject the idea that this was just because of chance and instead accept an explanation that the dice were loaded.
Exactly the same logic can be applied to the results of evaluations of clinical interventions. It is possible that a study result showing benefit or harm for an intervention is because of chance, particularly if the study has a small size. Therefore, when we analyse the results of a study, we want to see the extent to which they are likely to have occurred by chance. If the results are highly unlikely to have occurred by chance, we accept that the findings reflect a real treatment effect.
Unlike the dice, which we can check by throwing them repeatedly to see if our run of sixes was a chance finding or because of some bias, we can't easily repeat every clinical trial many times to check if our finding is real. We have to make do with our one study. Of course, replication of the results of studies is an important part of the scientific process, and we would be more confident if the results were confirmed in several studies.
Statistical theory tells us that if we could repeat an experiment several hundred times with different samples of the same number of patients, the result (eg, the mean difference, difference in proportion, or relative risk) would not always be the same. If we plotted the results of these experiments on a graph, the shape of the curve (ie, the distribution of the results) would be approximately normal, or bell shaped (fig 1⇓). On average, the results of the studies would give us a correct estimate of the true treatment effect. However, any one study result could vary from this "true" effect by chance. The degree of variation from the "true" effect is given by the measure of spread or standard deviation of this distribution which, because it indicates the amount of random sampling error that is likely, is called the standard error (SE). The bigger the standard error, the more individual study results will vary away from the true effect.
Confidence intervals
From any one study, we cannot be certain which is the true value of the treatment effect because it may vary from the true value by chance. However, because of the shape of the sampling distribution (fig 1⇑) we know that 95% of all possible studies give an estimate that lies 1.96 SE on either side of the true value. Thus, we can say that in 95% of experiments, the true value will lie within 1.96 SE on either side of the estimate of effect found in our single study. In other words, there is a 95% probability that this range (1.96 SE on either side of the study effect size) includes the true value. This is called a 95% confidence interval and is a plausible range within which we are 95% confident the true value will lie (fig 1⇑).
If we want to be more confident that our interval includes the true value, we can use a 99% confidence interval which lies 2.58 SE on either side of the estimate from our study. In this case there is only a 1 in 100 chance that the true value falls outside of this range.
The wider the confidence interval, the less precise is our estimate of the treatment effect. This precision depends on the size of the SE. This is a measure of the spread of the sampling distribution, which in turn depends on the sample size. The fewer the number of patients in a trial or number of events observed (eg, deaths), the greater will be the sampling error (fig 2⇓). The greater the sampling error, the more likely it is that any one experiment will differ by chance from the true or average value and so the wider will be the 95% confidence interval. On the other hand, if we increase the size of the study so that the distribution becomes less spread out, individual study results will fall much closer to the true or average result and the SE and the width of the confidence interval is reduced (table 1⇓). This is the same as saying that we are more confident in the results of throwing the die lots of times than when we throw it only a few times.
Presenting the uncertainty about the treatment effect using confidence intervals is now the method preferred by many good healthcare journals. Confidence intervals can also be used to answer the question of whether or not a treatment has any effect. If the confidence interval of the difference in mean blood pressure reduction or the difference in the proportion of wounds healed includes the value zero (ie, no difference in average or proportions), then we can say that we are not confident that the treatment is better than the control. Similarly, if the confidence interval of an odds ratio or relative risk includes the value 1 (same odds or risk in treated and untreated groups), we cannot be confident that there is a difference between the effects of treatment and control. This is equivalent to carrying out a hypothesis test (see below).
We can illustrate the above with 2 examples. Campbell assessed the value of nurse led clinics in primary care to improve secondary prevention of heart disease and reported an increase in aspirin use (odds ratio 3.22, 95% CI 2.15 to 4.80).1 This means that we are 95% certain that nurse led clinics increased the odds of patients with heart disease using aspirin by between 2.15 and 4.80 times compared with standard care. However, the odds ratio for smoking cessation was 0.78 (95% CI 0.47 to 1.28). In other words, the plausible range included both a reduction in cessation (the part of the range less than 1 down to 0.47) and an increase in cessation (the part of the range between 1 and 1.28). An odds ratio of 1 means that the nurse led clinic group and the standard care group had the same cessation rate (ie, no difference). Because the confidence interval includes 1, we cannot be confident that the intervention changes the rate of smoking cessation.
A second example illustrates the use of confidence intervals when the measure of effect is the difference in the average of a continuous variable. Kitzman et al evaluated the effect of nurse home visits to low income, first time mothers2 (also see Evidence-Based Nursing, 1998 July, p76.) The outcomes included birth weight, number of hospitalisations, number of days hospitalised, and an emotional/cognitive stimulation score. The means, mean differences, and 95% confidence intervals around those mean differences are shown in table 2⇓. The mean difference in birth weight between the treatment and control groups was 18.2 g. However, the 95% confidence interval around this estimate ranged from –98.7 g to 62.4 g. This plausible range for the true treatment effect includes zero difference, and therefore, we cannot infer that there is any effect of home visits on birth weight. We can, however, be more confident that there was a real improvement in the measure of the degree to which the home environment was cognitively and emotionally stimulating. The mean increase in the score of 1.3 had a 95% confidence interval of 0.4 to 2.2. Because this interval does not include zero, we are 95% confident that there is a true treatment effect.
Hypothesis testing and p values
Instead of trying to estimate a plausible range of values within which the true treatment effect is likely to lie (ie, confidence interval), researchers often begin with a formal assumption that there is no effect (the null hypothesis). This is a bit like the situation in a court of law where the person charged with an offence is assumed to be innocent. The aim of the evaluation is similar to that of the prosecution: to gather enough evidence to reject the null hypothesis and to accept instead the alternative hypothesis that the treatment does have an effect (the defendant is guilty). The greater the quantity and quality of evidence that is not compatible with the null hypothesis, the more likely we are to reject this and accept the alternative.
In a court case, the more evidence there is against the defendant, the more likely it is that they are guilty and will be convicted. In a clinical evaluation, the greater the treatment effect (expressed as the number of SEs away from zero), the more likely it is that the null hypothesis of zero effect is not supported and that we will accept the alternative of a true difference between the treatment and control groups. In other words, the number of SEs that the study result is away from the null value, is equivalent in the court case analogy to the amount of evidence against the innocence of the defendant. The SE is regarded as the unit that measures the likelihood that the result is not because of chance. The more SEs the result is away from the null, the less likely it is to have arisen by chance, and the more likely it is to be a true effect.
For example, if the study shows a mean difference in blood pressure of 5 mm Hg when the SE is 5 mm Hg, then the result is only 1 SE above or below the null of no difference. We know that 68% of study results are likely to lie within 1 SE of zero even when there is no treatment difference, simply by chance. In this case, there is insufficient evidence from the study to make us reject the null hypothesis; the result is compatible with chance. However, if the study result is a treatment difference of 15.1 mm Hg (ie, more than 3 SE above or below zero), then we are more likely to reject the null hypothesis because we know that when there is no real treatment effect, 99.7 % of the studies will have a result that is within 3 SE of zero (15 mm Hg). The probability of an experiment giving a result of a 15 mm Hg reduction in blood pressure by chance when there is no real treatment effect is less than 0.3% (3 out of 1000).
How unlikely must it be (ie, how many standard errors away) that a study result is due to chance for us to accept the alternative that a treatment difference really exists? We need to use some rule or criterion to decide when the result will be regarded as compatible with the null hypothesis and when it is so unlikely to be a result of chance that we reject the null hypothesis and accept instead that the treatment makes a difference (the defendant is guilty in the courtroom example). Traditionally, researchers have used probabilities <5% (1.96 SE) or <1% (2.56 SE) as cutoffs. In other words, if the treatment effect found in a study falls more than 1.96 SE above or below the null value, then the probability of this or a more extreme result occurring by chance when the null is in fact true is <5% or 1 in 20; we say it is statistically significant at the 5% level or p<0.05. Similarly, if the result is more than 2.58 SE above or below zero, then it is regarded as statistically significant at the 1% level (p<0.01). For example, in the study of nurse led clinics, it was found that the mean change in the overall score for 6 secondary prevention components over a year of follow up was 0.59 in patients allocated to the nurse clinics and 0.06 in the control group. The difference between the groups of 0.53 was highly statistically significant at p<0.001; that is, there was a probability of less than 1 in 1,000 that this result was because of chance.
Type I error - the risk of a false positive result
By now it should be clear that we cannot know with complete certainty what the true treatment effect is, even when there is no study bias, because of the play of chance. All we can do is make probabilistic statements that indicate how likely it is that the true value lies within a range and how likely it is that the result or one greater is a result of chance. This means that there is always the possibility of being wrong. One type of error is to reject the null hypothesis falsely (ie, to say that a treatment effect exists when in fact the null is true or, in our court case example, to falsely convict the defendant). This false positive is called a type I error. The risk or probability of this type of error is given by the p value or statistical significance of the treatment effect found. If a treatment difference in blood pressure is 11 mm Hg (p=0.04) and we infer that a real treatment effect exists, then we have a 4 in 100 risk of being wrong, because 4% of all experiments of the same type would have reported this or a bigger difference by chance. The lower the p value, the less likely it is to be a false positive, and the lower the risk of a type I error. This is the same as saying that the more evidence we have to support the guilt of the defendant, the less likely it is that an innocent person will be falsely convicted. To an extent, the level of type I error that one accepts depends on the costs and consequences of making an incorrect inference and saying that a treatment works when, in fact, it does not. Because this will vary according to what is evaluated, use of a single cutoff for all research studies is not very sensible.
Type II error - risk of a false negative result
The uncertainty, of course, works the other way as well. Even if insufficient evidence is presented in a trial to convict a defendant, this doesn't necessarily mean that she is innocent—it could be that a guilty person was wrongly acquitted. Similarly, even if we can not exclude chance as the explanation of the result from our study, it does not necessarily mean that the treatment is ineffective. This type of error—a false negative result—where we wrongly accept the null hypothesis of no treatment effect is called a type II error.
The wider the spread of the sampling distribution (larger SE), the harder it is to exclude chance and, therefore, the greater the probability of falsely accepting the null hypothesis of no treatment effect. This is particularly a problem with small studies because they have large SEs. In these cases, even large estimates of treatment effect do not provide sufficient evidence of a true treatment effect (ie, they are not statistically significant) because the SE is so large. We say that the study has a low power to detect a treatment effect as statistically significant when there really is one.
If a study is too small, the confidence intervals can be so wide that they cannot really exclude from the range a value indicating no effect. For example, several studies of debriding agents for the treatment of chronic wounds are so small that estimates have large confidence intervals. A study of cadexomer iodine, for example, reported an odds ratio for healed wounds of 5.5 favouring cadexomer iodine compared with dextranomer.3 However, because only 27 patients were included in the trial, the 95% confidence interval was wide, ranging from 0.88 to 34.48. Thus, the study was too small to be able to exclude an odds ratio of 1 (no treatment difference).
When a study is undertaken, the number of patients should be sufficient to allow the study to have enough power to reject the null hypothesis if a treatment effect of clinical importance exists. Researchers should, therefore, carry out a power or sample size calculation when designing a study to ensure that it has a reasonable chance of correctly rejecting the null hypothesis. This prior power calculation should be reported in the paper.
One of the problems in clinical research is the plethora of studies that are too small and so have insufficient power. In these cases, one cannot interpret a statistically non-significant result to mean that no treatment effect exists.
Because so many studies are too small and have low power, it is possible that important clinical effects are being missed. One approach for dealing with this is to pool or combine the results of similar studies to get an overall and more precise estimate of treatment effect. This approach is called meta-analysis and will be discussed in a future Notebook.
Tests for different types of outcome measures
In the January issue of Evidence-Based Nursing, we described different ways of expressing treatment effects depending on the type of outcome measures used. These also affect the type of statistical test used to determine the extent to which the estimate of treatment effect is because of chance.
When a trial uses a continuous measure, such as blood pressure, the treatment effect is often calculated by measuring the difference in mean improvement in blood pressure between groups. In these cases (if the data are normally distributed), a t-test is commonly used. If, however, the data are skewed (ie, not normally distributed), it is better to test for differences in the median, using non-parametric tests, such as the Mann Whitney U test.
When a study measures categorical variables and expresses results as proportions (eg, numbers infected or wounds healed), then a χ2 (chi-squared) test is used. This tests the extent to which the difference between the observed proportion in the treatment group is different from what would have been expected by chance if there was no real difference between the treatment and control groups. Alternatively, if the odds ratio is used, the standard error of the odds ratio can be calculated and, assuming a normal distribution, 95% confidence intervals can be calculated and hypothesis tests can be done.
The tests described above apply to situations where independent groups of patients are being compared. There are, however, situations where patients are matched, or where patients are used as their own controls. In these "paired" comparisons, it is not appropriate to use the tests outlined above and instead paired analyses are needed. For normally distributed continuous measures, one can use the paired t-test. For skewed continuous paired data, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test is available. In the case of categorical outcomes, a number of alternative tests are available, such as McNemar's test. The important thing to remember is that if the design of the comparison is paired or matched, so must be the analysis.
Statistical significance is not clinical significance
Up to now, we have been concentrating on ways of testing whether the estimate of a treatment effect found in a trial is likely to be an accurate reflection of the true effect or whether it is likely to have arisen by chance. Researchers and readers of research often focus excessively on whether a result is statistically significant (ie, not likely the result of chance). However, just because a test shows a treatment effect to be statistically significant, it does not mean that the result is clinically important. For example, if a study is very large (and therefore has a small standard error), it is easier to find small and clinically unimportant treatment effects to be statistically significant. A large randomised controlled trial compared rehospitalisations in patients receiving a new heart drug with patients receiving usual care. A 1% reduction in rehospitalisation was reported in the treatment group (49% rehospitalisations v 50% in the usual care group). This was highly statistically significant (p<0.0001) mainly because this is a large trial. However, it is unlikely that clinical practice would be changed on the basis of such a small reduction in hospitalisation.
When reading reports of clinical trials, it is important to remember that apparent differences in the outcomes of patients in different treatment groups may be chance occurrences and not necessarily true treatment effects. Ideally the results of clinical trials (eg, as risk differences, odds ratios, or differences in means) are presented with confidence intervals around them. Confidence intervals represent the degree of uncertainty around the result: the narrower the confidence interval, the more precise the result. When a statistically significant difference is present, it is also important to consider whether the difference is clinically important and large enough to warrant a change in practice.


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Three companies excluded from the Government Pension Fund Global
Historical archive
Published under: Stoltenberg's 2nd Government
Publisher: Ministry of Finance
Press release | No: 48/2010 | Date: 23/08/2010
The Ministry of Finance has excluded two Israeli companies and one Malaysian company from the portfolio of the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG).
The Ministry of Finance has excluded two Israeli companies and one Malaysian company from the portfolio of the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG).
On the recommendation of the Council on Ethics, the Ministry of Finance has decided to exclude the Israeli companies Africa Israel Investments Ltd. and Danya Cebus Ltd. and the Malaysian company Samling Global Ltd. from the GPFGs investment portfolio. The divestment from these companies has now been concluded.
"The decision to exclude these companies from the GPFG is based on the Council on Ethics assessment that they are contributing to or are themselves responsible for grossly unethical activity," says Minister of Finance Sigbjørn Johnsen.
Africa Israel Investments Ltd. is the parent company of several subsidiaries with interests in property development, infrastructure and energy. The company holds a majority stake in Danya Cebus, a construction company involved in developing settlements in occupied Palestinian territory. The Council on Ethics emphasises that the construction of settlements in occupied areas is a violation of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (the fourth Geneva Convention) and that the GPFG runs an unacceptable risk of contributing to serious violations of individual rights in situations of war and conflict by investing in these two companies.
"The Council on Ethics bases its recommendation on the fact that the international community is united in the view that the area east of the 1967 line is occupied territory and as such comes under the purview of the fourth Geneva Convention. Several United Nations Security Council resolutions and an International Court of Justice advisory opinion have concluded that the construction of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory is prohibited under this Convention. I have therefore accepted the recommendation of the Council on Ethics and am excluding Africa Israel Investments and Danya Cebus from the fund's investment portfolio," says Minister of Finance Sigbjørn Johnsen.
The GPFG owned shares worth NOK 7.2 million in Africa Israel Investments at year end 2009. Africa Israel Investments is the majority shareholder in Danya Cebus.
Samling Global is an integrated forest resource and wood products company that produces timber, plywood, veneer and palm oil. The Council on Ethics' investigations have documented what seems to be extensive and repeated breaches of the licence requirements, regulations and other directives governing the company's forest operations in Sarawak, Malaysia and Guyana. The recommendation of the Council on Ethics is based on field surveys , satellite image analysis, and evaluation of publicly available documentation. In its assessment, the Council on Ethics has placed particular emphasis on the extent of illegal logging. and the environmental damage that occurs when laws and regulations are not being observed.
"The Council on Ethics has assessed Samling Global, and concluded that the company's forest operations in the rainforests of Sarawak and Guyana contribute to illegal logging and severe environmental damage. I have therefore chosen to follow the recommendation of the Council on Ethics and exclude the company from the GPFG's investment portfolio," says Johnsen.
The GPFG owned shares worth NOK 8.1 million in Samling Global Ltd at year end 2009.
The recommendations of the Council on Ethics:
- Africa Israel Investments Ltd. and Danya Cebus Ltd.
- Samling Global Ltd
- Letter to the Council on Ethics 18 February 2010
- Letter from the Council on Ethics 09 March 2010
Read more about the Council on Ethics for the Government Pension Fund Global at www.etikkradet.no
A complete list of the companies excluded from the investment universe


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All discussions relating to Speech & Language Therapy. It is open to all participants. Please post your questions and advice on items of a general nature in this forum. If it is a more specific question please feel free to post in one of the topic areas.
This section contains an RSS feed of the Latest Speech & Language Therapy Job Vacancies and Course opportunities from Bob's Speech Therapy Jobs - www.speech-bob.com


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Object of devotion
If one were to compile a list of the most fantastically weird artistic productions of Renaissance Christianity, top honors might well go to Matthias Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece.
Constructed and painted between 1512 and 1516, the enormous moveable altarpiece, essentially a box of statues covered by folding wings, was created to serve as the central object of devotion in an Isenheim hospital built by the Brothers of St. Anthony. St. Anthony was a patron saint of those suffering from skin diseases. The pig who usually accompanies him in art is a reference to the use of pork fat to heal skin infections, but it also led to Anthony's adoption as a patron saint of swineherds, totally unrelated to his reputation for healing and as the patron of basket-weavers, brush-makers, and gravediggers (he first lived as an anchorite, a type of religious hermit, in an empty sepulcher).
At the Isenheim hospital, the Antonine monks devoted themselves to the care of sick and dying peasants, many of them suffering from the effects of ergotism, a disease caused by consuming rye grain infected with fungus. Ergotism, popularly known as St. Anthony's fire, caused hallucinations and skin infection, and attacked the central nervous system, eventually leading to death. It is perhaps not incidental to Grünewald's vision for his altarpiece that the hallucinogen LSD was eventually isolated from the same strain of fungus.
Sculpted altar
Sculpted wooden altars were popular in Germany at the time. At the heart of the altarpiece, Nicolas of Hagenau's central carved and gilded ensemble consists of rather staid, solid, and unimaginative representations of three saints important to the Antonine order; a bearded and enthroned St. Anthony flanked by standing figures of St. Jerome and St. Augustine. Below, in the carved predella, usually covered by a painted panel, a carved Christ stands at the center of seated apostles, six to each side, grouped in separate groups of three. Hagenau's interior ensemble is therefore symmetrical, rational, mathematical, and replete with numerical perfections—one, three, four, and twelve.
Painted panels
Grünewald's painted panels come from a different world; visions of hell on earth, in which the physical and psychological torments that afflicted Christ and a host of saints are rendered as visions wrought in dissonant psychedelic color, and played out by distorted figures—men, women, angels, and demons—lit by streaking strident light and placed in eerie other-worldly landscapes. The painted panels fold out to reveal three distinct ensembles. In its common, closed position the central panels close to depict a horrific, night-time Crucifixion.
The macabre and distorted Christ is splayed on the cross, his hands writhing in agony, his body marked with livid spots of pox. The Virgin swoons into the waiting arms of the young St. John the Evangelist while John the Baptist, on the other side (not commonly depicted at the Crucifixion), gestures towards the suffering body at the center and holds a scroll which reads "he must increase, but I must decrease." The emphatic physical suffering was intended to be thaumaturgic (miracle performing), a point of identification for the denizens of the hospital. The flanking panels depict St. Sebastian, long known as a plague saint because of his body pocked by arrows, and St. Anthony Abbot.
The second position emphasizes this promise of resurrection. Its panels depict the Annunciation, the Virgin and Child with a host of musical angels, and the Resurrection. The progression from left to right is a highlight reel of Christ's life.
In the predella panel is a Lamentation, the sprawling and horrifyingly punctured dead body of Christ is presented as an invitation to contemplate mortality and resurrection.
Idiosyncratic visions
All three scenes are, however, highly idiosyncratic and personal visions of Biblical exegesis; the musical angels, in their Gothic bandstand, are lit by an eerie orange-yellow light while the adjacent Madonna of Humility sits in a twilight landscape lit by flickering, fiery atmospheric clouds.
The Resurrection panel is the strangest of these inner visions. Christ is wreathed in orange, red, and yellow body halos and rises like a streaking fireball, hovering over the sepulcher and the bodies of the sleeping soldiers, a combination of Transfiguration, Resurrection, and Ascension.
Hybrid demons
Grünewald saves his most esoteric visions for the fully open position of the altar, in the two inner panels that flank the central sculptures. On the left, St. Anthony visits St. Paul (the first hermit of the desert) in the blasted-out wilderness—the two are about to be fed by the raven in the tree above, and Anthony will later be called upon to bury St. Paul. The meeting cured St. Anthony of the misperception that he was the first desert hermit, and was therefore a lesson in humility.
In the final panel, Grünewald lets his imagination run riot in the depiction of St. Anthony's temptations in the desert; sublime hybrid demons, like Daliesque dreams, torment Anthony's waking and sleeping hours, bringing to life the saint's torment and mirroring the physical and psychic suffering of the hospital patients.
Grünewald's mastery of medieval monstrosity echoes and evokes Hieronymus Bosch and has inspired artists ever since. The entire altarpiece is a paean to human suffering and an essay on faith and the hope for heaven in the troubled years before the Reformation.
Additional resources
Andrée Hayum, "The Meaning and Function of the Isenheim Altarpiece: The Hospital Context Revisited," The Art Bulletin 59, no. 4 (December 1977): pp. 501–17.
Ann Stieglitz, "The Reproduction of Agony: Toward a Reception-History of Grünewald's Isenheim Altar after the First World War," Oxford Art Journal 12, no. 2 (1989): pp. 87–103.
Ruth Mellinkoff, The Devil at Isenheim: Reflections of Popular Belief in Grünewald's Altarpiece (University of California Press, 1988).
Pantxika Béguerie-De Paepe and Magali Haas, The Isenheim Altarpiece: The Masterpiece of the Musée Unterlinden (Musée Unterlinden, 2015).
Smarthistory images for teaching and learning:
[flickr_tags user_id="82032880@N00″ tags="isenheim,"]


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Jermaine Jackson · @jermjackson5
1st Aug 2012 from Twitlonger
Yesterday, I had a phone call with my son Jaafar that broke my heart. He asked: "Is it true that we cannot visit grandmother's house as a family anymore?" Enough has become enough... After much soul-searching, it is clearly time for us to live by Michael's words about love not war. In this spirit, I offer this statement by way of extending an olive-branch. Accordingly, I rescind my signature from the letter which was sent to the Estate, and which should never have gone public. I still hold deep reservations about many issues involving the Estate, and I will continue to bring scrutiny and a resolute voice wherever we have cause for concern. But the way to address such matters is through the proper channels and via a private dialogue, not public conflict. Whatever the tabloid and on-line misrepresentations have led people to believe, my primary concern has only ever been rooted in the welfare of our mother in the environment where she lives. No-one on the outside has a clue about the stresses and pressures she has been under long before recent events and I, like everyone in the family, adore the ground she walks on. We are also still raw from the loss of Michael three years ago. The ever-present grief has haunted me with questions about whether we stepped off him too much or whether we did enough to help when a corporate world surrounded him. So when it comes to the well-being of loved ones, and especially our mother, we are perhaps understandably and unapologetically over-protective. As attorney Perry Sanders has since confirmed, a health check detected high blood pressure with Mother. Rest was the sole reason she went to Arizona. Prince even carried her bags down the stairs and urged her to rest-up, because we all come from the same caring place. When she was away, and with the children in the responsible care of Tito's son TJ, there was never a malicious attempt to "block" the kids from talking with her. We simply worried that a call home would first entail, or lead to, conversations with individuals we are in dispute with and that would, therefore, increase pressure on Mother -- and pressure was what a doctor said she didn't need. This was why we went to the house in Calabasas to talk directly with the kids and merely discuss arrangements for them to meet with their grandmother. We were denied that access by security -- and it was clear that mutual suspicions had allowed events to spiral out of control. I regret that events were ever allowed to reach such a stage. I regret any distress caused to Prince, Paris and Blanket. That was never, ever the intention of myself, Janet, Rebbie or Randy. Moving forward, the most effective way to best serve Mother's welfare, and that of Michael's children, is to start a collective dialogue, in private. Mistakes have been made and irrational things have been said on both sides in a highly-charged emotional environment. It is time for us all to draw a line in the sand and move towards peace, co-operation, love and healing. I truly hope that we can find it in our hearts to do so. Because above and beyond anything else, what matters...is family.


text: × Report item × Inappropriate or offensive Low quality Not funny Copyright breach Repost Other Send × Report comment × Inappropriate or offensive Spam Inappropriate language Other Send Swipe for Fun! × La grammatica... By DaCoot. Originally published in a different language View original 2015-08-14 14:00 55% (216) GrammaticaMother Of Grammar × Send × Send Comments Rating Time Comments by rating Comments by time More memes you may like


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Lewd / Zeni Geva - Split
Side A is a live recording by Lewd (formally Incubus) who were Hans Jacobs on vocals and guitar, Jac Van Bussel (aka DMDN, Jacinthebox and former THU20 member) on bass and Paul Rabelink on drums. They were unfortunately short-lived. Imagine a strangled Godflesh. There you go ... really pretty great. The Zeni side is a live recording featuring the classic line-up of Kazuyuki Kishino, Mitsuru Tabata and Eito Noro with Yasuko (?) as a second drummer. Zeni Geva. Live. With two drummers? Damn!
LP released on Supreme Tool Supplies in 1992.
Lewd / Zeni Geva


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Copyright © 2024. BayView Realty. All Rights Reserved. Website developed by Wicked Code, Inc.
The material within this website is relevant, helpful, and kept up-to-date as much as possible. BayView Realty and its associates does not make any warranty or representation of any kind with respect to the completeness or accuracy of the information included herein. All rights for the content and pictures of this website are reserved by BayView Realty and may not duplicated by any other person or entity.


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Developing citizens of strong character is at the heart of what we do and is based upon the eight Pillars of Bowden: respect, responsibility, caring, citizenship, civility, morality, fairness and trustworthiness.
This is a great place to start as you search for the school that's just right for you! Our Admission team is here to assist, to learn more about what you are looking for, and to share what makes Cheshire Academy unique. Learn more by visiting campus, reaching out to our Admission team, and diving into our website.
The Academic Vision: Cheshire Academy students grow increasingly capable of independently observing, questioning, explaining, interpreting, and analyzing the world. Our academic process begins with what students know and want to know, and develops active learners who reflect on their growth and the implications of their learning.
Many students come to Cheshire Academy knowing they love the arts; others discover their passion while attending. All of our students experience the process of creating art and learning to be more imaginative in solving problems — whether it's in the keyboard lab using technology to build new sounds, the digital photography studio exploring shooting and editing techniques, or on stage developing dramatic tone and movement.
The athletics program offers more than 20 competitive sports for boys and girls, and a range of noncompetitive athletic activities, all focused on skill development and team building, competitiveness, wellness, fitness, and pride in contributing to a team.
The Cheshire Academy experience is full and active; living and learning takes place not only in the classroom, but also in the art studios, dormitories, dining commons, on the athletic fields, and even on the footpaths that wind around campus. The Academy is a tight-knit and dynamic environment that offers a community rich in diversity.
The extraordinary commitment of our alumni, parents, faculty and staff, and friends helps to maintain the excellence of a Cheshire Academy education and ensures that we can remain true to our mission.
October 1, 2021


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Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
AP Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - Clearly, Bob Costas stirred up a hornet's nest Sunday with a halftime commentary about Kansas City Chiefs player Jovan Belcher, who killed his girlfriend (and the mother of his child) before killing himself.
On Twitter, someone posed this question: "Who put Costas on in the middle of a football game so he could spew his one sided beliefs?" Another tweeter sharply recommended Costas "stick to football ... the more you talk, the dumber you sound." And on and on it went. The message resounded: Bob Costas, just shut up.
All from this: "If Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun," Costas told a TV audience of more than 20 million, "he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today."
The reasons for the pushback were familiar when a celebrity _ be it musician, sportscaster, even news anchor _ bypasses what the public believes is that star's area and expounds on issues in the larger world. But as our world grows into a place where anyone with a smartphone and an Internet connection can rant far and wide, celebrities, it seems, are still held to a higher standard _ or a different one _ than the rest of us.
Reaction to Costas' remarks was swift, with much of it harsh, ranging from the scolding hosts of Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends" the next morning to agitated sports fans typing tweets as they watched him on NBC's broadcast of the Philadelphia Eagles-Dallas Cowboys game.
Numerous reasons were advanced for why Costas had no business weighing in on the issue of gun ownership (while others expressed their support for him).
But in an odd lapse of reasoning, many of the opinion slingers who condemned Costas blasted him for simply voicing his opinion.
Technology has leveled the playing field (so to speak) for distributing opinions and ideas to the world. Granted, most people don't have 20 million listeners at their command, as Costas did Sunday. But everyone can post a comment on any topic that, via social media, can reach a global audience.
Consumer feedback is solicited by media outlets and other organizations around the clock. A public forum for opinions that can span the world is guaranteed anyone in reach of a Wi-Fi connection.
And yet, in an era when widespread opining is deemed our basic human right, an opinion that is often leveled at others for doing so is "You should shut up!"
With that in mind, much debate surrounding Costas' commentary has sought to tease out a distinction between acceptable opinion and opinions that are out of bounds.
It's been said that politics and religion don't mix. But the response to Costas' commentary suggests that, for many within earshot, sports are even more sacred.
By this argument, a fractious world of partisan politics and cultural clashes has no place in the football sanctuary. Sports should be a refuge from life's harsher truths, a comfort zone for a special brand of clashing between rival teams. Here, Red State/Blue State differences can take a break and unite for a red-white-and-blue brand of partisanship.
So when politics encroaches on sports, it inevitably makes some fans queasy. Or livid.
Just recall President Jimmy Carter's controversial decision that the United States would boycott the 1980 Moscow Olympics after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. And at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, two U.S. athletes raised a black-gloved fist in a black power salute during the medal ceremony. The two African-American athletes were expelled from the Games.
If Costas played politics for 90 seconds Sunday night, it was on a much reduced scale than those examples.
Yet many people "insist that an NFL broadcast is supposedly a sacrosanct and therefore apolitical space that must remain free of `hot-button issues,'" noted David Sirota in a Salon column on Tuesday. "But, then, in commenting on the Kansas City Chiefs murder-suicide, Costas was merely weighing in on the biggest NFL story of the day, which is exactly what he's paid to do and what typically happens during an NFL halftime show."
Were Costas' reflections on when "ugly reality intrudes upon our games" really so intrusive and outrageous?
Did his status as a professional commentator really disqualify him from sharing a thought about a tragedy that millions of his fellow Americans were talking about?
Should he really lose his job? (That was an opinion voiced on Fox News Channel.)
"What I was talking about here _ and I'm sorry if that wasn't clear to everybody _ was a gun culture," Costas said in an appearance on MSNBC's "Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" on Tuesday. "I never mentioned the Second Amendment. I never used the words `gun control.' People inferred that."
Even so, it may be that Costas crossed a line by bringing politics into his football coverage.
But it wasn't the first time a hot-button issue had been pressed in a sports broadcast. In 2003, conservative radio superstar Rush Limbaugh resigned from a brief stint on the panel of ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown." His departure followed his race-tinged comments about Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb.
"Sports people say they don't want any politics involved," Limbaugh said in a Tuesday commentary addressing the Costas affair (where he cracked "I don't blame Bob Costas. I blame the microphone").
Limbaugh said there had been no provision in his deal with ESPN not to bring up politics. "But I never asked to be able to, either. It wasn't even on my mind."
Keeping sports and politics in separate spheres may be less and less possible in a world that breeds opinions and crossbreeds its performers.
In his Salon column, David Sirota noted that boundaries are disappearing between sports, culture, entertainment and politics: "Modern America is a place where an actor can become president, a pro wrestler can become a governor, a football player can become a congressman, and a comedian can become a U.S. senator." And (as he could've added) where a real estate mogul can become a TV host, political pundit and prospective presidential candidate.
Meanwhile, everyone is talking, with Costas only one among the chattering multitude. And that, of course, means there's a danger of less and less time being set aside for listening.
NBC is controlled by Comcast Corp.; Fox is a unit of News Corp.; ESPN is owned by The Walt Disney Co.
EDITOR'S NOTE _ Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. He can be reached at fmoore(at)ap.org and at http://www.twitter.com/tvfrazier
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


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Beating the Drums Against Coal in Montana
When the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) tried to mute public opposition to the proposed Otter Creek coal mine in southeastern Montana, the Sierra Club, the National Wildlife Federation, and members of the Northern Cheyenne Nation called them on their tactics and made their voices heard.
The Otter Creek coal tracts, below, contain approximately 1.3 billion tons of coal that, once strip-mined and burned, would emit roughly 2.4 billion tons of climate-disrupting pollution into the atmosphere. Otter Creek Coal, a subsidiary of Arch Coal, has leased 616 million tons of that coal from the State of Montana.
Photo by Kestrel Aerial Services, courtesy of the Montana Environmental Information Center
The DEQ set up a "scoping hearing" in Lame Deer, Montana—home of the Northern Cheyenne tribal headquarters—to accept public comments on the Otter Creek project. But instead of allowing people to stand up and speak in public, DEQ set up an "open house" which provided information but effectively kept public comments off the record.
"The open house format features a lot of different tables where people can mill around," says Montana-based Sierra Club organizer Mike Scott. "But if people want to comment they have to go sit down with someone from DEQ instead of being heard by the public. When people get up and speak in public, it's a totally different dynamic—it can make others think about the situation differently. The open house format was a way for DEQ to make sure they were controlling all the information."
That's Scott, below at left, with Northern Cheyenne activists Martin Braided Hair and Tom Mexican Cheyenne.
The scoping hearing in Lame Deer was one of several on the Otter Creek project, all held in communities near the proposed mine, so the Sierra Club, NWF, and Northern Cheyenne knew about DEQ's open house tactic in advance. "We were able to organize the group together pretty quickly and develop a plan," Scott says.
We'll let Scott describe what ensured:
"We turned out about 80 people to a pre-hearing rally in front of the tribal offices. A bonfire started in the parking lot and hand drums and singing filled the 15-degree air with traditional honor songs. At 6:00 PM, the crowd had swelled to about 100, all wearing red Beyond Coal t-shirts and carrying anti-coal signs. Lame Deer and the surrounding area are home to about 2,000 people, so it was a good turnout.
"We then marched into the hearing room, carrying our own PA system, and asked to speak to whoever was in charge. Our spokesman, Tom Mexican Cheyenne, turned on the PA system and told the DEQ that this would, in fact, be a public hearing, and as guests in Cheyenne country the DEQ should respect the tribe's wishes. He said that if you believe something, you should be able to say it in front of your community, and that it was the Cheyenne way to speak to their community.
"DEQ acquiesced in front of that sea of red shirts and signs, so we formed a line and the testimony began. Three hours later the DEQ really wanted to leave. During the entire hearing, only one person spoke out in support of the mine, while about 45 gave moving testimony against the project and asked solid questions that are now part of the public record.
"As one rancher put it at the end of the hearing: 'I deeply appreciate my Cheyenne neighbors once again showing me, the state of Montana, and Arch Coal what free speech looks like.'
"The next day, the new president of the Northern Cheyenne issued a statement ordering all departments to prepare for community meetings in all six districts of the reservation in order to reevaluate the tribe's formal position on Otter Creek. The previous tribal administration had supported the development and that policy currently stands by resolution of the council. This is the first step in changing that position."
Photo by Kestrel Aerial Services, courtesy of the Montana Environmental Information Center
Above and below, aerial views of Otter Creek.
Photo by Ecoflight, courtesy of the National Wildlife Federation
Background: In March 2010, Otter Creek Coal, a subsidiary of Arch Coal, leased 616 million tons of the Otter Creek coal tracts from the State of Montana. But in granting the lease, the Montana State Land Board failed to adequately weigh the environmental and economic consequences of the lease or consider any alternatives that might be more beneficial to the state.
The Montana Environmental Information Center and the Sierra Club filed suit against the Land Board over that failure, and in January 2011, a district court judge denied the state and Arch Coal's motion to dismiss the case, which alleges that the state should have considered environmental, economic, and public health threats before leasing the Otter Creek coal reserves to Arch Coal for strip mining.
The court agreed with the environmental groups and explained that the defendants' position would allow state agencies "to convert public property rights to private property rights, stripping away [the Montana law's] special protections before even considering possible environmental consequences."
The leasing of the Otter Creek coal tracts has set in motion a series of events that will have profound impacts on local farmers and ranchers, ground and surface water resources, and the abundant wildlife in the area—not to mention the 2.4 billion tons of greenhouse gases that would be released into the atmosphere when the coal is burned.


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First have a look at the Requirements For Factories and the Terms Of Use, and maybe sign up with the mailing list.
You will need a user account and to create screenshot factories. Click here to register an account now.
Please let us know if you find problems or have any ideas for improvement, especially how to make it more intuitive and user-friendly.
Find your computer's name
The name for your screenshot factory will be your computer's name by default. Here's how you find it:
But you can also choose a different name for your ShotFactory and then run it with shotfactory -f yourname.
Install the software
We have installation instructions for the following platforms:
Add your browsers
After your screenshot factory is created, you can add browsers to it.
Screenshot factories are the machines that run a fully automatic unattended script to get jobs from the server and make screenshots of browsers.
Hardware:CPU: Pentium III 500 MHz, RAM: 256MB
Software:The reference implementation requires the following software.
If Python is not available for your platform, you could write your own screenshot factory script in your favorite programming language, according to the FactoryInterface specification.
Interface:The screenshot factories communicate with the central server through XML-RPC which is based on HTTP. The FactoryInterface protocol will also work through most firewalls and even through web proxies.
Bandwidth:One screenshot factory can process circa one screenshot per minute. Screenshots are in PNG format for lossless compression. For screens with low resolution (800x600 pixels) and few colors (e.g. 256), the average screenshot size is somewhere around 50 kilobytes. On slightly more modern platforms (1024x768 pixels and 24 bits per pixel), a single screenshot can be as large as half a megabyte. This can amount to 30 megabytes per hour or 720 megabytes in 24 hours. Therefore, the monthly upload bandwidth usage of a single screenshot factory can be in the order of 20 gigabytes.
CPU usage:This depends on the browser and website (e.g. Flash and/or Java). For a busy factory, the CPU usage would average 20% to 50% on a modern computer, but the usage would occur in bursts during the start of the VNC server, during page loading and rendering, and during PNG encoding.
Load limit:On Linux and Mac, you can specify a load limit, the default value is 1.0. If the system load average exceeds the limit, the screenshot factory program will sleep until the load goes down.
Parallel factories:If one machine runs several screenshot factories in parallel, the bandwidth and CPU usage must be multiplied by the number of parallel factories.
The machine powers Browsershots is an example of a central server. If you want, you can set up your own server and use it for private screenshots in your web design company, for example.
Hardware:For smaller loads (e.g. in-house use), a half-modern web server with 512 MB RAM and 40 GB HD should be okay.
Software:OS: Linux (Ubuntu is recommended), Web server (Apache/Nginx), Python (version 2.6 is recommended), NetPBM graphic software
Bandwidth:For the server, the bandwidth requirements must be multiplied by the number of screenshot factories. If there are 20 active factories at any time, the bandwidth for screenshot uploads alone will have to be in the order of half a terabyte per month.
Storage:Hard drive usage for screenshots is quite flexible because when the disk gets filled up, old screenshots can be deleted automatically with a cron job.
Users are those who submit their web site URLs for testing.
Interface:Users can simply use the web frontend through their browser. Use of a web proxy is ok and works just like with any other web site.
Hardware/Software:We have tried to make the service as accessible as we could. Your screen resolution should not make too big a difference. But because the purpose of Browsershots is to show you screenshots of different browsers, you will need a browser that can display images. And because we don't like JPEG artefacts, we use the PNG format which some older browsers don't understand.
Bandwidth:The bandwidth requirements are moderate because the scaled-down screenshot previews are around 70 kilobytes each.
Install prerequisites
sudo apt-get install tightvncserver xfonts-base netpbm xautomation scrot subversion
Get the screenshot factory source code
svn checkout http://browsershots.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/shotfactory browsershots-read-only
Adjust config files
Change the file ~/.vnc/xstartup to the following three lines. This will set a white background and then run nothing except the window manager. Be sure to remove any reference to xterm because it gets in the way.
#!/bin/sh xsetroot -solid "#FFFFFF" x-window-manager &
cd shotfactory screen -L python shotfactory.py
See Troubleshooting for registration and troubleshooting tips.
More useful packages
You will need a lightweight window manager because it will be restarted for each screenshot request. I don't recommend gnome-session because it uses a lot of memory. If you want nice rounded title bars, you can also install ubuntu-artwork.
sudo apt-get install metacity ubuntu-artwork
The firefox package on Ubuntu suggests these font packages (as of 2007-12-01):
sudo apt-get install latex-xft-fonts ttf-kochi-gothic ttf-kochi-mincho ttf-thryomanes ttf-baekmuk ttf-arphic-gbsn00lp ttf-arphic-bsmi00lp ttf-arphic-gkai00mp ttf-arphic-bkai00mp
If you want to run Flash 9, simply install the following package:
sudo apt-get install flashplugin-nonfree
It's also fun to track the system status graphically. Install Munin somewhere and add all your screenshot factory machines to /etc/munin/munin.conf. Then do this on your screenshot factory:
sudo apt-get install lm-sensors smartmontools sudo apt-get install munin-node
Important security notice: don't run the screenshot factory on your Administrator account. The program will load many websites in your browser, and some of them may contain exploits for known security holes. One of my screenshot factories has been hijacked in this way. It's safest to create a new unprivileged user account and run the screenshot factory there.
See also StandaloneInternetExplorer if you want to run different versions of Internet Explorer on one machine.
There are two different ways to install the screenshot factory on windows:
Simple method: binaries for Windows
This method is strongly recommended. It does not require any other installations. Helper programs and the Python interpreter with all required libraries are included.
See Troubleshooting for registration and troubleshooting tips.
Advanced method: source code from the Subversion repository
Use this method if you want to fiddle with the source code.
See Troubleshooting for registration and troubleshooting tips.
Install prerequisites
#!/bin/sh xsetroot -solid "#FFFFFF" x-window-manager &
Get the source code
svn checkout http://browsershots.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/shotfactory browsershots-read-only
Also copy the cscreen program into the shotfactory directory.
cd shotfactory python shotfactory.py
See Troubleshooting for registration and troubleshooting tips.
With this method you can run multiple different versions of Internet Explorer on one machine.
Get the ZIP files that you want from http://browsers.evolt.org/?ie/32bit/standalone.
Unzip each to a subfolder within your shotfactory folder, so for example you would have a file
Register browser versions
Enter "ie501sp2_nt\iexplore.exe" in command box when register your browsers with this form.
If you don't have an account yet, please create a user account
If you get an error saying Factory not found with name=..., please register your screenshot factory.
If you get No browsers registered for factory ..., please visit this page with each of your browsers.
You may use this API to get realtime status of your factories. Based on these status, you are able to make a script to notify you when your factory are down or not working normally.
URL: http://browsershots.org/api/factories/status?factory=[FACTORY_NAME]&password=[PASSWORD]
Example Response
{ errors_per_hour: 8, success: true, last_upload: "6 seconds ago", uploads_per_hour: 372, last_poll: "6 seconds ago", problems_per_day: 0 }
Run shotfactory.py -h (or --help) to see a list of command line options.
Run shotfactory.py -v (or --verbose) to see more output, including error messages from helper programs.
Run shotfactory.py -vvv (very very verbose) to also see all the commands that are run by the script.
On Linux, you can run xvncviewer :1 to see the virtual screen of the VNC server while a screenshot request is processed.
You can also look at the files ????-pgdn01.ppm or ????.png (where ???? is the request number) to see if there's a problem.
The file shotfactory.log contains error messages for failed screenshot requests.
If you use screen -L, the file screenlog.0 will contain the full output of the shotfactory script.
On Windows, if you run shotfactory.exe directly with a double click, the terminal window may be closed immediately when an error occurs. Try to start the terminal first and then run the program from the command line to avoid this issue.
The factory details page shows recent errors for your factory, with links to each screenshot.
Install Django source code
Browsershots 0.4 uses the development version (trunk) of Django.
svn checkout http://code.djangoproject.com/svn/django/trunk django cd django sudo python setup.py install
Install ShotServer source code
Click here to download shotserver source code
For the quick-start development server, you don't need to install the Browsershots source code in /usr/lib/ because you run the development server from your local copy. Only for use with a real web server like Apache, you would do the following:
cd shotserver sudo python setup.py install
Install the database
You need a recent version of PostgreSQL. If version 8.3 is not available on your distribution, 8.2 will work too.
sudo apt-get install postgresql-8.2 python-psycopg
You can create the database as the same user that will be running the development server, so you don't need to worry about passwords.
createdb shotserver04 CREATE DATABASE
If necessary, create the database user first (replace www-data with your username):
sudo -u postgres createuser www-data Shall the new role be a superuser? (y/n) n Shall the new role be allowed to create databases? (y/n) y Shall the new role be allowed to create more new roles? (y/n) n CREATE ROLE
Let Django create the database tables for you:
cd shotserver/shotserver04 ./manage.py syncdb
When it asks if you would like to create an admin account, say yes.
Create content folders
If you haven't changed the directories in settings.py, you need the following folders:
sudo mkdir -p /var/www/v04.browsershots.org/png
The png folder must be writable by the user running the server.
sudo chown www-data:www-data /var/www/v04.browsershots.org/png
On a production system, you would use Apache 2 or some other serious web server. But to get started quickly, it is recommended that you use the Django development server first, and then switch to a real web server later when it works okay.
Run the development server
You can do this on your normal user account, but you must have write access to the database shotserver04 and to the directory /var/www/browsershots.org/png/.
cd shotserver/shotserver04 ./manage.py runserver
More detailed instructions are available in the Django documentation.
Admin interface
Point your browser to http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin/ and enter your username and password.
Adjust the sites configuration
Create screenshot factories
Web frontend
Point your browser to http://127.0.0.1:8000/ to see the web interface. Replace 127.0.0.1 with the hostname of your development machine if you want to access it from other computers.
Add browsers to your factories
Visit http://127.0.0.1:8000/browsers/add with each browser on your screenshot factory. The page should detect your browser settings automatically. Enter your password and click submit to register your browser in the database.
You can use http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin/browsers/browser/ to add or delete browsers manually or change their settings.
Run Django with mod_python on Apache
After you get the development server to run, you may want to switch to a real web server for performance and stability. See the Django documentation for details, and InstallServerApache for example configuration.
For a production system, you don't want to use the development server that comes with Django. Here's how you set up Apache for Browsershots.
sudo apt-get install apache2 libapache2-mod-python
Create directory for log files:
sudo mkdir -p /var/log/apache2/v04.browsershots.org/
Enable mod_rewrite:
sudo a2enmod rewrite
Then put the following in /etc/apache2/sites-available/v04.browsershots.org:
ExtendedStatus On NameVirtualHost *:80 <VirtualHost *:80> ServerName browsershots.example.com # FQDN ServerAlias browsershots # Local alias ServerAdmin [email protected] ServerSignature On LogLevel warn ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/v04.browsershots.org/error.log CustomLog /var/log/apache2/v04.browsershots.org/access.log combined DocumentRoot /var/www/v04.browsershots.org <Directory /var/www/v04.browsershots.org> Options -Indexes RewriteEngine On RewriteBase / # Force canonical hostname. RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^browsershots.example.com(|:80)$ RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://browsershots.example.com/$1 [R,L] # Static files at server root RewriteRule ^(favicon.ico|robots.txt)$ static/$1 [L] # Force HTTPS for secure pages (uncomment next line to enable) # RewriteRule ^(admin|accounts)(/.*)$ https://browsershots.example.com/$1$2 [R,L] </Directory> <Location /> SetHandler python-program PythonHandler django.core.handlers.modpython SetEnv DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE shotserver04.settings PythonDebug Off PythonAutoReload Off </Location> <Location /png> SetHandler None </Location> <Location /static> SetHandler None </Location> <Location /media> SetHandler None </Location> <Location /server-status> SetHandler server-status Allow from all </Location> </VirtualHost> # Local variables: # mode: apache # end:
Make sure that file is the first symlink in /etc/apache/sites-enabled and then restart Apache:
sudo a2dissite default sudo a2ensite v04.browsershots.org sudo apache2ctl restart
Create some symlinks for static content:
cd /var/www/v04.browsershots.org/ sudo ln -s /usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/shotserver04/static sudo ln -s /usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/django/contrib/admin/media
System Components
The Browsershots system consists of a central server and a large number of distributed screenshot factories.
ShotServer: The central server is a powerful web server. It has a web interface that consists of a user interface and a configuration area. The server manages the screenshot requests, uploaded screenshots, and the configuration of the factories.
ShotFactory: The screenshot factories are simple desktop machines with cheap broadband internet. They make screenshots of web pages in different browsers on different platforms. Some of them are only active at night or when they have nothing else to do. The screenshot factory program is fully automatic and runs completely unattended.
Life Cycle of a Screenshot Request
Users submit their web addresses to the central server through a web-based user interface. Then they select browsers and configuration options for their screenshots. The screenshot requests are stored in a database on the central server.
FactoryInterface: The screenshot factories poll the server regularly for requests that match their configuration. If a matching screenshot request is found, the factory loads the requested page in the requested browser and makes screenshots of it. If the page is longer than one screen, several screenshots will be merged to produce a tall picture of the whole page. Finally, the screenshot is compressed as a PNG file and uploaded to the central server.
A few minutes after the screenshot requests were submitted, users can see the results in their browser on the central server's web interface.
This is the specification for the interface between the central server and the distributed screenshot factories.
The central server is a web server with a big fat pipe.
The screenshot factories are simple workstations with cheap broadband internet access (e.g. DSL or cable). They communicate with the server by means of XML-RPC (Remote Procedure Call). This works fine with firewalls and proxies because it's like regular web surfing (except for the frequency and size of file uploads).
The screenshot factory program is a simple script that runs fully unattended. It downloads job information from the central server, runs a web browser and produces screenshots, and finally uploads the resulting PNG files to the central server.
The XML-RPC endpoint is at http://api.browsershots.org/xmlrpc/. The API documentation is available on the same URL, simply go there with your browser.
Step 0: Authentication
Get a challenge from the server and encrypt your password for each API request.
Step 1: Get a screenshot request
Ask the server to find a screenshot request that matches your factory configuration, and lock it (to avoid that two screenshot factories work on the same request).
The result includes a request ID, the browser name and version number, and other request details.
Step 2: Make a screenshot
Set up the screen to match the request parameters, e.g. resolution and color depth.
Construct a redirection URL:
Start your browser with the redirection URL. The central server will store the User-Agent header of your browser and then redirect the browser to the URL for the job, using the status code "302 Found".
Now you have to wait until the browser has finished rendering the page. Then take a screenshot of the whole screen, including window decorations and task bar.
Optionally scroll down, take more screenshots, and merge the screenshots into a tall picture.
Step 3: Upload PNG file
Make a PNG file from the screenshot. Encode it to base64 and send it to the server.
The central server will sanity-check your submission, then make smaller images and store the PNG files on disk. Users can see their screenshots at the following URL: http://browsershots.org/screenshots/
You can now go back to step 1 and check for more jobs.
If you don't want to produce too much load on your host, you can wait until your CPU load average has dropped below some limit. On Linux, this can be done by monitoring /proc/loadavg until the first number is below 1.0 or something.
No matching request.
There weren't any screenshot requests that match your factory configuration. The factory should sleep for a minute and then poll again.
All active browsers on ??? are temporarily blocked because of errors.
When a screenshot upload contains errors, the respective browser will be blocked for 10 minutes to reduce the number of errors per hour, and to give other factories a chance to process this request. If all browsers on your factory have errors, request polling will fail until the first browser is unblocked again.
Authentication failed (different IP address)
The IP address of your screenshot factory has changed after the XML-RPC call to nonces.challenge. Maybe it is using a different proxy server. For security, the factory must use the same IP address for the challenge and the subsequent API call.
No active browsers registered for factory ???.
Please visit the browser registration page with each of the browsers that you want to run on your factory.
Unknown user agent: …
Your browser was probably updated, and the user agent has changed. Visit the browser registration page again with this browser to update the user agent string in the database.
The browser has not visited the requested website.
Actually, the browser has not visited the redirect address on the Browsershots server. Maybe another instance of this browser is running, and the uploaded screenshot contains an error message about it. Or maybe your browser didn't have enough time to start up and load the requested page, so you may try to increase the value of the --wait option (default is 30 seconds).
Authentication failed (nonce expired).
The delay between the XML-RPC call to nonces.challenge and the subsequent API call was longer than 10 minutes. Maybe your screenshot factory is too busy with other work (like a software upgrade), or your internet connection is too slow.
Requested browser version ?.? but got ?.?.
Your screenshot factory has started the wrong browser for this screenshot request. Visit the browser registration page with each browser and enter the correct filename in the Command field.
Request ??? was not locked.
Your screenshot factory has tried to upload a screenshot for a request that wasn't locked. Locking should happen during the call to requests.poll. This is probably a programming error in the shotfactory script or the server.
The screenshot is ??? pixels wide, not ??? as requested.
Make sure that you have reschangecon.exe (on Windows) or cscreen (on Mac OS) to adjust your screen resolution. Or if the requested screen resolution is not supported on your factory, you can remove it on the factory page (you have to log in to see the buttons).
The screenshot is too tall (more than 4 times the width).
Extremely tall screenshots break the page layout on browsershots.org, and they use up a lot of disk space on the server without much benefit. Please reduce your vertical screen resolution, or the value of the --max-pages option (the default is 7).
The screenshot is too short (less than half the width).
If your screen resolution is really wider than 2:1, please write to [email protected] so I can change the limit.
Could not decode uploaded PNG file (hashkey ???).
Your screenshot factory uploaded a PNG file that could not be decoded. Please write to [email protected] with details on your software installation (e.g. operating system, installed version of NetPBM).
Request ??? was locked by factory ???.
Your screenshot factory took longer than 5 minutes to process the screenshot request, so the lock expired and a different factory started to process this request.
The server is currently overloaded. Please try again in a minute.
If the server load average (from /proc/loadavg) exceeds 10, some calls to requests.poll will be randomly rejected to reduce the server load. If the load goes higher, more polls will be rejected. The screenshot factory should sleep for a minute and then try to poll for a screenshot request again.
Internet Explorer has encountered a problem
This problem occurs because one of the following browser helper objects (BHO) is installed on your computer: Buyersport, Morpheus, Morpheus Shopping Club, WURLD Shopping Community. Additionally, you logged on to the computer with a limited user account. The BHO tries to modify certain system files and Windows Registry entries that require administrative credentials to access. As a result, when the BHO cannot access these files and registry entries, Internet Explorer stops abruptly. To resolve this problem, remove the BHO from your computer. More information is available in the Microsoft Knowledge Base.
Send Error Report
The browser processing the current screenshot request crashed and Application Error Reporting is enabled in Windows system settings. To resolve this error, either disable Application Error Reporting (System Properties, Advanced), or, better, find out why the browser crashed while attempting to load the particularly requested website.
Low virtual memory
Your system does not have enough free RAM to continue service. This takes place when the system is overloaded or executing external programs, such as a web server, while the shotfactory is running. For first, try to restart the operating system in order to free unused memory. If the issue is not solved by this, start Task Manager (Ctrl-Shift-Esc), and keep it running minimized. After the error occured the next time, open task manager, have a look at the 'Processes' tab and thus find out which program is consuming most memory.
Install language pack
The requested website contains characters that cannot be shown with the language packs currently installed. Usually, this causes Internet Explorer to display a dialog box requesting the on-demand install of additional codepages. The needed packs are often Chinese, Japanese, and other Eastern language packs. Once the additional pack has been installed, make sure to restart the browser to complete the setup. Sometimes even the whole operating system must be restarted. Note: installing language packs requires Administrator privileges. Firefox does not show a dialog asking for on-demand setup, but rather only shows boxes containing the hexadecimal unicode values of the signs not available. A good website to test if Eastern signs are displayed correctly is Toshiba.
You have requested an encrypted page
This is not a warning but rather a message telling you that the currently requested website is using the secure SSL protocol. Please be sure to disable such messages in the preferences of your browser in order to hide them from made screenshots.
Secure connection
This is not a warning but rather a message telling you that the currently requested website is using the secure SSL protocol. Please be sure to disable such messages in the Internet options of Internet Explorer in order to hide them from made screenshots.
Waiting for http
This message indicates that the page could not be loaded in the given wait time. To resolve this problem, first try to open the URL in your normal browser on your desktop computer. Wait some 30 seconds or even longer. If the page loads, increase the wait timeout in the shotfactory (-w parameter). If it does not load, try opening any website on the shotfactory computer. If that works the web server of the requested website is not available and you cannot do anything against the error message as the administrator of the webserver is responsible. If you cannot open any page on your shotfactory computer, there is an error with your internet connection there.
Do not show this warning again
Several dialog messages and warnings contain a checkbox to hide such messages in the future. Check the box once to remove the dialogs. This message is also displayed by Internet Explorer if you set the accepting of cookies to 'Confirm' instead of 'Accept' or 'Block'.
Recycle Bin
Your screenshot contains the Recycle Bin desktop icon; the requested browser did thus not start in maximized window state. Try to maximize it once, then close it. Most browsers then save your window state preference for the next start. Note: you must close the browser manually after maximizing the window as the shotfactory will not close it softly, but kill the process.
Server poll latency
Your screenshot contains the open console window with the shotfactory debug output. Try minimizing the console window, and make sure all browsers can start in the given wait time. If they can't, increase the wait time, using the -w parameter.
The screen is blank
Automatically detected error within the screenshot, showing that most of your screen was blank. Usually refers to a browser not being maximized or not having loaded the page fully.
The left side of the screen is blank
Automatically detected error within the screenshot, showing that the left side of your screen was blank. Usually refers to a browser not being maximized or not having loaded the page fully.
The right side of the screen is blank
Automatically detected error within the screenshot, showing that the right side of your screen was blank. Usually refers to a browser not being maximized or not having loaded the page fully.
The bottom of the screen is blank
Automatically detected error within the screenshot, showing that the bottom of your screen was blank. Usually refers to a browser not being maximized or not having loaded the page fully.
This also happens in Safari if there's no scroll bar and the bottom of the website is blank. In that case, you can avoid this error by enabling the status bar in Safari.
This is not the requested browser. / This is not ???.
User-reported error telling you that the shot screenshot does not contain the browser requested for this screenshot. Usually refers either to wrong entries within the section 'Registered browsers for this shotfactory' or to wrong program paths / exe calls.
This is not the requested browser. / This is not ???.
User-reported error telling you that the shot screenshot does not contain the browser requested for this screenshot. Usually refers either to wrong entries within the section 'Registered browsers for this shotfactory' or to wrong program paths / exe calls.
This is not the requested operating system. / This is not ???.
User-reported error telling you that the shot screenshot was not recorded in the operating system requested for this screenshot. Please check your registered browsers and compare them to the ones installed in the shotfactory computer.
This is not the requested Javascript version. / Javascript is not ?.?.


text:
Please note that the City of Savannah standard drainage details D12 and D19 have been updated. D21 to D31 have been added, Please click here for a list of all drainage details.
The City of Savannah Water and Sewer Planning and Engineering (WSPE) Department, in cooperation with the Water Conveyance and Distribution Department, has updated the City of Savannah Standard Specifications and Details for water and sewer in January of 2017.
While some revisions to these documents simply make them current with existing design and construction procedures, some of the content is new. Thus, WSPE is encouraging interested parties, (Engineers, Utility Contractors, etc.) to review the revised documents and familiarize themselves with the revised procedures. We also welcome your feedback for future updates, (submit comments in writing to: WSPE Plan and Spec Comment, 702 Stiles Avenue, Savannah GA 31415).
1-27-17 Update - Water and Sewer Specification Sections 02550, 02554, 02555, and 02558 and all Water and Sewer Details have been updated.
Beginning February 1, 2017, all water and sewer improvements in the City Service Area shall be designed and built according to the revised details and specifications. This directive does not apply to plan and specification submittals approved or under review by the City prior to this date.


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